Builders' Forum Archives

Bulkhead Hatches

Posted by Ingrid H on Mar 4, 2007

Garland brought up a subject in the recent flush hatch thread that has been going through my mind a lot lately. Bulkhead hatches... Garland suggested store-bought hatches, but I've been thinking up a fore and aft bulkhead hatch design for a MC13. To date, my best thought is to make flush bulkhead hatches held in place by cams and sealed with foam tape. What is left of the bulkhead would be triple thickness plywood due to the layers of the bulkhead, the spacer, and the sill. The triple thickness of plywood at the bulkhead locations should allow most of the area to be cut out and the cams are cheap to make and simple to operate. The back band would have to be easy to move out of the way for access to the aft hatch and the three layers of plywood should be glued up before going into the hull, but how much material on the bulkhead should be left on the perimeter? Any other thoughts?